Cats in the NBA

Former Kentucky center and current Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns limped to the sideline at the end of regulation against the Washington Wizards.

With less than 10 seconds left before the game was sent into overtime – and ultimately won by the Wolves – Towns appeared to encounter a non-contact injury to his right knee. He hobbled his way to the bench and did not return to the game.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, there is some optimism within the organization that Towns will be okay.

There is optimism about the MRI results on right knee of Minnesota All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns, league sources tell ESPN. He left victory over Washington with injury on Saturday night.

You can’t tell exactly what happened, but it looks clear he didn’t land on it awkwardly or anything like that. This just looks like one of those freak injuries where something bends in some way that it isn’t supposed to (that is my official diagnosis as a Google.com doctor). The non-contact injuries are always the most frightening. We have no idea what happened or what caused his knee to betray him. There is also a video of Towns appearing to say “it popped” while he’s tending to his knee on the sideline.

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Karl-Anthony Towns went crazy once again, posting 40 points and 16 rebounds (on 15-25 shooting, including 4-7 from three) in an overtime win over the Washington Wizards. But the win was hardly what Minnesota Timberwolves fans were paying attention to. During the closing seconds of regulation, Towns was seen limping dramatically with an apparent knee injury and had to leave the game. At the time of this post, the exact severity of the potential injury is not known, but Towns is expected to undergo further testing.

Ryan Saunders said Karl-Anthony Towns was walking around, said he “has not heard concern” of a serious injury with Towns. But Towns needs to undergo further testing.

Towns has been killing it since the All-Star break, so hopefully this doesn’t end up being something more serious and he can continue to close out the season strong.

[33-32] Kings – 102 @ [13-53] Knicks – 94

De’Aaron Fox led his Sacramento Kings to an early morning win over the Knicks in New York. With a tipoff time set for noon (normally 9 a.m. on the West coast for Fox and the Kings), the Kings came out still asleep, but Fox made sure to wake them up in time to win the game. The former Kentucky guard dropped 30 points, five rebounds, and eight assists for Sacramento, with 12 of those points coming in the final six minutes of the game after the Knicks erased a 12-point deficit.

For New York, Kevin Knox had a poor shooting night, connecting on only three of his 12 shot attempts for seven points and four rebounds.

[30-36] Hornets – 114 @ [50-16] Bucks – 131

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist sat out this game as he deals with a minor knee sprain he suffered in Friday’s matchup against the Wizards. Malik Monk saw the court for only three minutes, hitting one of his two three-point attempts while dishing out two dimes. Charlotte now falls 1.5 games back of the Miami Heat for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with only 16 games left on the team’s schedule.

For the Bucks, who used a 39-point third quarter to bury the Hornets for good, Eric Bledsoe registered 11 points, three rebounds, and five assists in the win.

[15-52] Suns – 120 @ [40-26] Trail Blazers – 127

Devin Booker’s 23 points and five assists were not enough to lift his Phoenix Suns over the Portland Trail Blazers, who were led by 26 points from C.J. McCollum.

Enes Kanter added 12 points and eight rebounds on 5-7 shooting in only 16 minutes for Portland while Skal Labissiere did not record any stats in four minutes of game time.

Former Kentucky point guard Isaiah Briscoe received a bit of bad news this afternoon.

After finding his groove off the bench for the Orlando Magic this season, the team announced that an MRI on Briscoe’s right knee revealed a small meniscus tear and his status is unknown moving forward.

According to the report, Briscoe will sit out Orlando’s game tonight against Dallas while treatment options are being evaluated.

INJURY UPDATE:

An MRI this afternoon on Isaiah Briscoe’s right knee revealed a small meniscus tear. Treatment options are being evaluated.

Briscoe will be out tonight vs. Dallas and updates will be provided as warranted.

Over his last ten games, Briscoe has been averaging six points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists per game in 22.6 minutes off the bench per contest.

Beyond statistics, the former Wildcat has brought great toughness and intensity on the floor for the Magic, a much-needed asset for a team currently fighting for a spot in the playoffs at No. 9 in the Eastern Conference (30-36 overall).

Briscoe signed a four-year, $6 million contract last offseason, keeping the 6-foot-3 point guard in Orlando through the 2021-22 season.

Good morning, folks. Only two games to cover from Thursday night. Let’s talk NBA.

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The first game of the night featured the Indiana Pacers hosting the NBA-leading Milwaukee Bucks in a battle between two of the top three teams in the Eastern Conference. The Pacers have continued to shoot up the standings despite losing All-Star Victor Oladipo for the season back in late January. But against the floor-spacing, Giannis Antetokounmpo-having Bucks, Indiana stood no chance. And after watching the game, I’m becoming more and more convinced there isn’t another team in the East – and maybe only two or three in the West – that can beat these Bucks in a seven-game playoff series. Eric Bledsoe posted a BBNBA-high 12 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists for Milwaukee, as they trounced the Pacers, 117-98.

The second game in Portland was much more exciting. The Trail Blazers and Oklahoma City Thunder have made it clear they are not huge fans of each other, as evident by the 200 different scuffles Jusuf Nurkic – Portland’s starting center – got himself into, whether it was intentional or by accident. The game went to overtime, where the Thunder pulled ahead late to win the game by a score of 129-121.

For the Thunder, Patrick Patterson was a DNP-CD for the fourth straight game and it was the seventh game out of his last eight that he’s sat out entirely. Nerlens Noel played 14 solid minutes for OKC, scoring six points while pulling down three boards and blocking one shot. On the Trail Blazers side, Enes Kanter added only three points and six rebounds in 18 minutes. There was also a weird situation near the end of regulation, where Skal Labissiere found himself at the free-throw line with the game on the line despite not having played since Feb. 23. Right before this, some words were exchanged between Nurkic and Thunder forward, Paul George, after George appeared to elbow Nurkic. Following a review, Nurkic was ejected for his second technical foul and a common foul was called on the Thunder, giving the Blazers a chance to tie the game at 113 with under three seconds left. The NBA has this dumb rule that allows the opposing team to choose who shoots the free-throw if the initial player is no longer in the game. The Thunder obviously chose Labissiere, who was as ice cold as it can get (which is not his fault and, once again, a dumb rule to begin with). He missed both free throws, but luckily, a foul was called under the basket after the second-attempt that gave Al-Farouq Aminu another chance to tie the game, which he did, but the Blazers would ultimately fall in extra time.

Good afternoon, folks. Devin Booker scored 41 points and his Suns are actually playing not too bad right now. Let’s talk NBA.

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Bam Adebayo started his fifth consecutive game for the Miami Heat despite starting center Hassan Whiteside returning from a minor injury two games ago. Adebayo posted 10 points, five rebounds, two steals, and two blocks in 25 minutes for the Heat, who beat the Charlotte Hornets to maintain positioning of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Neither Malik Monk and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist appeared in the game for Charlotte.

Karl-Anthony Towns came back down to earth a bit after an unreal five-game stretch, but still managed to register 24 points on 7-14 shooting (3-6 from three) in a loss to the red-hot Detroit Pistons.

In New Orleans, Anthony Davis continues to play 20 minutes a game as if everything is perfectly normal and not awkward at all. He went for 16 points, five rebounds, three assists, and two blocks in a loss to the Utah Jazz. Julius Randle led the Pelicans with 23 points and six rebounds on 9-18 shooting while Darius Miller added eight points on 2-5 shooting.

[13-52] Knicks – 96 @ [15-51] Suns – 107

In a battle between the two worst teams in the NBA, Devin Booker’s Phoenix Suns came out on top (or in second, depending on how you want to look at it). Booker scored a season-high 41 points on 14-23 shooting (6-10 from three) in addition to five rebounds, four assists, and two steals. After losing 17 games in a row, the Suns have now won four of its last five games, also beating the Bucks, Lakers, and Heat during the current run.

Kevin Knox’s shooting struggles continued, as he shot 1-5 from the field for seven points. Don’t look now, but Knox is on pace to have one of the least efficient shooting seasons in recent memory. His 42.3 effective field goal percentage ranks in the 6th percentile among all NBA forwards, according to Cleaning the Glass.

[43-21] Nuggets – 115 @ [30-35] Lakers – 99

LeBron James passed Michael Jordan for the fourth-most points scored by one player in NBA history after an and-one during the second-quarter. But it felt… weird. Mainly because this Lakers season is now officially a waste but also because the Nuggets were destroying the Lakers at the time and continued to do so throughout the majority of the game. But that’s all I’m going to say about that subject.

Rajon Rondo posted four points, seven rebounds, 11 assists, and two steals for Los Angeles while separating himself as much as possible from his teammates near the end of the game.

Jamal Murray added 19 points, eight rebounds, and four assists for the Nuggets in 32 minutes. Trey Lyles sat out his seventh consecutive game with a hamstring injury and there is hope he can return by March 12.

Other notes

De’Aaron Fox and the Sacramento Kings lost a close game at home to the Boston Celtics after Gordon Hayward hit a game-winning fadeaway with only a couple seconds left. The loss probably all but destroys any hope the Kings had of making the playoffs at this point, considering the team is now four games out of the final playoff spot in the West with only 18 games left. It’s not impossible, but the Kings would need to rattle off something in the range of 13-14 wins to give themselves a chance. Fox finished with 16 points and seven assists while Willie Cauley-Stein scored 19 points to go along with seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals.

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[39-25] Thunder – 120 @ [30-34] Timberwolves – 131

Karl-Anthony Towns is currently playing the best basketball of his career and all it took was a near-death experience to unleash the beast. Let me quickly rattle off the average stats for Towns’ last five games since returning from the concussion protocol: 36.4 points, 16.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 1.0 blocks while shooting 60.4 percent (uhhh what?) from the field and 47.1 percent from three on nearly SEVEN ATTEMPTS PER GAME. He’s getting to the free throw nine times per contest after averaging roughly under six attempts per game all season. KAT is in his bag right now. Some basketball pundits I follow have suggested that since the Wolves fired Tom Thibodeau, interim head coach Ryan Saunders has done a much better job of utilizing Towns. While Thibodeau wanted KAT to create his offense from the block, Saunders is allowing Towns to basically do whatever the hell he wants from any spot on the court. Crazy concept, right? Allowing the best player on your team to be the best player has turned Towns into an offensive nightmare for opposing defenses. Against the Thunder on Tuesday night, Towns exploded for a BBNBA-high of 41 points on 15-27 shooting (3-5 from three) to go along with 14 rebounds and zero turnovers in a win over one of the top teams in the Western Conference. Can we have a full season of this version of KAT, please?

Meanwhile, the NBA Cats for the Thunder are struggling. Hamidou Diallo has been sent to the G League with the playoffs only a few weeks away. Patrick Patterson has fallen completely out of the rotation (his replacement, Markieff Morris, really hasn’t played that well, either, to make matters worse). Nerlens Noel is the only one of the trio that still finds the court and he’s at least carved out a consistent role in the rotation and will surely be a key piece off the bench for a playoff run. Noel only played 10 minutes against Minny but went 3-3 from the field for six points, two rebounds, one steal, and one block.

Other notes

Are you ready for some bad news? I hope I’m not the first one to break this to you, but DeMarcus Cousins and the Golden State Warriors have been anything but a perfect match so far. The Warriors were obliterated by the Boston Celtics (perhaps the most dysfunctional team in the NBA outside of Los Angeles) in a 30-point drumming at home in Oracle Arena and Cousins is not playing well with the other Golden State stars. This tweet by Fear the Sword writer Mike Zavagno details just how poorly Cousins has meshed when on the floor with his fellow All-Stars.

Over the last 15 games, the difference in the Warriors’ play with DeMarcus Cousins on vs off has been astounding. Take a look and the on/off numbers for their most important rotation players pic.twitter.com/wHK6FmZyrj

Through the first few games of Boogie’s return, I tried to take everything he did with a grain of salt. He’s missed a ton of time. He’s in the process of learning how to play alongside so many ball dominant players. His excessive fouling was a serious issue. You could see the frustration in his eyes. That all boiled over on Tuesday night when he nearly got into some fisticuffs with Celtics center Aaron Baynes.

It’s only been 17 games and it would be foolish to assume that everything was going to work like a well-oiled machine, but the Warriors just don’t look all that great right now. Chalk it up to Kevin Durant half-assing through games or the entire team in general being bored with the regular season, but this is a real issue come playoff time that is going to have to be addressed. What if the problems persist and head coach Steve Kerr simply can’t keep Boogie on the floor. How is everyone going to handle that? The Warriors are still the title favorites and it’s ridiculous to think otherwise (yes, I know how good Milwaukee looks right now), but something needs to change with how Cousins is being used. We’ll just have to wait and see how the coaching staff – and Boogie – responds.

In Jodie Meeks news, the Toronto Raptors have elected to not re-sign the former Kentucky guard to another 10-day contract.

Isaac Humphries is still living out his basketball dream, currently as a member of the Erie Bay Hawks of the NBA’s G League. The former Wildcat recorded a double-double in his last game, Sunday night, with 16 points and 11 rebounds; a couple weeks before that, he helped the Australian national team qualify for the FIBA Basketball World Cup. Needless to say, basketball is going just fine for Humphries.

But if Humphries were to wake up tomorrow and decide he’s done with basketball, I think he’ll be just fine in his post-basketball career as a singer. The man’s got pipes, as we learned at Derek Willis’ wedding last fall, and it could take him places in the music industry.

Listen to Humphries belt out a cover of “Say Something” by A Great Big World, recently uploaded to his new YouTube account. It’s pretty incredible.

Good morning, folks. The Lakers are really going to waste an entire season of LeBron James. Ha! Let’s talk NBA.

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[13-51] Knicks – 108 @ [32-31] Kings – 113

The Sacramento Kings still have hope to end their 13-year playoff drought after taking care of the New York Knicks at home. With a current record of 32-31 and 19 games to go, the Kings are still three games back of the San Antonio Spurs for the final playoff spot out West. De’Aaron Fox posted 16 points, four rebounds, three assists, and four steals for Sacramento while Willie Cauley-Stein added nine points, seven rebounds, five assists, and two steals. The Kings will take on the Celtics this Wednesday then go on a four-game Eastern Conference road trip that could decide its playoff chances. Realistically, the Kings need to win around 13 or 14 more games down the stretch – and the Spurs/Clippers need to drop a few games they shouldn’t – but hope is not dead yet.

Kevin Knox scored 11 points on 4-6 shooting to go along with three rebounds for the Knicks.

[37-29] Clippers – 113 @ [30-34] Lakers – 105

While the Kings still have optimism they can make the playoffs, the Lakers might as well pack up the rest of the season. After falling to the Clippers – who is now a half-game ahead of the Spurs, sitting in seventh place currently – the Lakers would have to win damn near every game the rest of the way. With LeBron James, normally completing a task like that feels possible, but not this season. Now four games under .500 and the injuries beginning to pile up, there isn’t much this roster can do, even with LeBron. No offense to Rajon Rondo – who was played incredibly well the last few weeks – but he can’t be relied on to drop triple-doubles consistently as he did against the Clippers (Rondo posted 24 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists). I was incredibly confident a few weeks ago that LeBron could drag this garbage truck of a roster into the playoffs, but not even “Playoff Mode” LeBron can navigate through this filth.

The Clippers, however, continue to roll despite trading away Tobias Harris before the trade deadline. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander contributed 14 points and four assists for L.A. He also blocked LeBron.

Other notes

Julius Randle led the BBNBA in scoring with 30 points on 10-23 shooting to go along with eight rebounds and five assists for the New Orleans Pelicans. Anthony Davis played only the first three quarters (except for checking in for the final defensive play of the game that ultimately helped seal the Pellies a win over the Utah Jazz), but still registered 15 points and 11 rebounds in 22 minutes. Darius Miller went 3-6 from the field for seven points in addition to four rebounds and two assists as the Pelicans won its third straight game. Seriously, this situation is still crazy.

Eric Bledsoe and the Milwaukee Bucks lost a shocker to the Phoenix Suns behind 22 points, five rebounds, and seven assists from Devin Booker. Bledsoe added 15 points, five rebounds, and five assists for Milwaukee, but a fourth-quarter comeback from the Suns surprised the Bucks down the stretch.

Lastly, Jamal Murray went for 25 points in a close loss against the San Antonio Spurs. He shot 8-19 from the field and dished out eight dimes in the process.

Good afternoon, folks. The Hornets have relegated Michael-Kidd Gilchrist to the bench just weeks before the playoffs begin. Let’s talk NBA.

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[39-24] Trail Blazers – 118 @ [29-34] Hornets – 108

The recap for this game isn’t going to very positive for Kentucky fans. Of the four former Wildcats on these two rosters, only Enes Kanter received any playing time. Kanter finished with six points (on 2-8 shooting) and eight rebounds in 18 minutes and is now averaging 11.4 points and 7.6 rebounds over the course of 19.2 minutes per game. Those numbers look good on the surface, but the Blazers have been immensely better with Kanter off the floor in the five games he’s played in.

The Blazers are 37.6 points better per 100 possessions with Enes Kanter off the floor since his arrival.

It’s only five games – and as Jackson points out in the tweet thread, Rodney Hood has similar numbers so it could be related to just poor bench rotations – but the early returns are not promising. Kanter can put up points in a hurry off the bench, but the Blazers other backup center, Zach Collins, is a far superior defender and coming along nicely on the offensive end. Having a veteran scorer to bring in with the second unit is a huge advantage in the playoffs, but the gaping defensive hole Kanter leaves open is concerning.

Skal Labissiere received his fourth straight Did Not Play-Coaches Decision for Portland.

For Charlotte, both Malik Monk and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist sat out their second game in a row. Neither of them are injured or dealing with anything unrelated to basketball, the Hornets have just elected to sit the two. Monk has seen his playing time dwindle since February began, so it’s not too much of a surprise to see him sitting. But for MKG, this is the first time in his career that he’s missing games as a healthy scratch. MKG has never morphed into the superstar that his status as a No. 2 overall pick might indicate, but he’s always been a valuable and useful player for the Hornets. Sidelining him this late in the season – and with the Hornets tied for the final spot in the Eastern Conference playoff standings – comes off as a desperation move. Frank Kaminsky has played well in the place of MKG over the last two games, but can this be a reliable strategy in the playoffs? We’ll just have to wait to find out.

Other notes

Karl-Anthony Towns led the BBNA in scoring on Sunday night, posting 28 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists on 12-16 shooting (2-6 from three) as his Minnesota Timberwolves lost on the road to the John Wall-less Washington Wizards.

In Los Angeles, where the Clippers defended home court by taking down the New York Knicks, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander recorded 15 points (his third straight game with at least 13 points), three rebounds, and four assists while shooting 6-9 from the field. For the Knicks, Kevin Knox played 23 minutes but shot only 1-6 from the field for a total of six points to go along with three rebounds.

Alex Poythress played his first game back with the Atlanta Hawks since the final day of 2018, scoring nine points while adding five rebounds and three assists in 26 minutes as his team beat the Bulls in Chicago.

Jones signed his first ten-day contract with the program back on February 22. He’s only played in one game since, but before moving up to the Rockets, he averaged 23.5 points and 9.4 rebounds with the Erie Bayhawks in the G-League.

Now seems like a great time to throw it back to that 2012 classic, Teach Me Bout Kentucky:

If you’re an optimist, or even a realist, one positive that you can take from the chaos that has been the Anthony Davis-New Orleans Pelicans relationship over the last month or so, is that Julius Randle has been given the opportunity to step up on a nightly basis and put up larger numbers. Last night was no different, as the lefty finished with 28 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal, and a block. The Pelicans were able to earn the victory over one of the best team’s in the Western Conference, the Denver Nuggets. Darius Miller played 27 minutes off the bench and hit two 3s on his way to 10 points and 3 assists.

On the flip side, the Nuggets didn’t get the best shooting night from former Cat Jamal Murray. Murray finished with 20 points, partly because he was a perfect 9 of 9 at the free throw line, but he was just 5 of 15 from the floor and 1 of 7 from three. Trey Lyles continues to miss time for Denver, nursing a hamstring issue that has kept him sidelined since before the All-Star break.

Two of the best teams in the NBA faced off in Philadelphia last night, as the 76ers hosted the Golden State Warriors. With no Klay Thompson, the Warriors relied heavily on Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, and DeMarcus Cousins to pull out the win. Cousins had 25 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 steals in what is now his third straight game of putting up All-Star Boogie Cousins numbers.

The mighty are falling quickly in Los Angeles, as the Lebron-led Lakers dropped yet another game to bring their record to 30-33 on the season. This time, the Lakers fell to one of the worst teams in the NBA, giving the Phoenix Suns just their 13th win of the season. Devin Booker led the charge for the Suns, scoring 25 points, dishing out 4 assists, and grabbing 4 rebounds. Rajon Rondo was quiet for the Lakers, finishing with just 4 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals on 1 of 10 shooting from the field.

The 29-year old point guard is currently averaging 15.7 points, 5.5 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game. He’s also shooting a career-high 49 percent from the field.

In his lone season at Kentucky in 2009-10, Bledsoe averaged 11.3 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game.

He was drafted No. 18 overall by the Los Angeles Clippers in 2010, where he spent three years with the team before being traded to the Phoenix Suns in 2013. After developing into the team’s franchise player – he averaged over 20 points per game in 2015-16 and 2016-17 – Bledsoe asked for a trade and was eventually moved to Milwaukee in November of 2017.

The Bucks currently have an NBA-best record of 47-14 and are on pace to enter the postseason as the No. 1 seed in the East.

Good morning, folks. KAT is averaging 37.7 points and 18.7 rebounds while shooting nearly 48 percent from three over his last three games. Let’s talk NBA.

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A near-death experience has Karl-Anthony Towns playing like every game could be his last. After posting 34/21 followed by a 37/18 game in his two appearances after returning from an auto accident, Towns went scorched-earth on the Indiana Pacers. He dropped 42 points – a season-high – while grabbing 17 rebounds. He also dished out four dimes while shooting 15-29 from the field (3-8 from deep). 23 of Towns’ points came in the first quarter, but his Timberwolves squad couldn’t keep up the rest of the way, falling 122-115 on the road.

Jamal Murray was the only player on the floor for the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night who could hit a shot. The Nuggets fell at home to the Utah Jazz, 111-104, and Murray hit four of Denver’s seven overall three-pointers. He finished with 21 points, four rebounds, and three assists with zero turnovers. His team as a whole shot 7-25 from deep (28 percent) and nearly came back from a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit, but Donovan Mitchell hit several clutch shots for Utah down the stretch to ice the game away. Trey Lyles sat out his fourth straight game for Denver with a hamstring injury.

In a surprising loss to the Orlando Magic in Florida, DeMarcus Cousins posted 21 points on 8-16 shooting to go along with 11 rebounds for the Golden State Warriors, who were without Kevin Durant (rest). For the Magic, Isaiah Briscoe returned after missing the previous two games with a concussion. He contributed eight points, nine rebounds, and two assists in 20 minutes.

Good afternoon, folks. Eric Bledsoe was robbed of a spot in the All-Star Game and I will never let it go. Let’s talk NBA.

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Karl-Anthony Towns had himself a night in Atlanta. The former Kentucky center poured in 37 points on 12-19 shooting (including 5-9 from three) to go along with 18 rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. In his two games back since returning from an auto accident, Towns has been popping off – he posted 34 points, 21 rebounds, five assists, and two blocks on 13-18 shooting this past Monday. Unfortunately, his Wolves team fell to the Hawks, one of the worst teams in the league by a sizable margin. The loss couldn’t have come at a worse time, too. With the Kings and Clippers both dropping games on Wednesday, the Wolves had a shot to inch up in the playoff race. But 36 points from Trae Young and another 34 from John Collins cut those efforts short. The Wolves are now four games out of the eighth seed in the West.

[47-14] Bucks – 141 @ [31-30] Kings – 140 (OT)

Eric Bledsoe played one of his best overall games of the season for Milwaukee in a thrilling win over the Kings. Not only did he post the fifth triple-double of his career, but he also made the game-saving defensive stop on Kings guard De’Aaon Fox with time running down in regulation. Bledsoe’s 26 points, 12 rebounds, and 13 assists were enough to power the Bucks to a win despite Giannis Antetokounmpo sitting for extended stretches due to rest.

Fox finished with 17 points, six rebounds, and nine assists while Willie Cauley-Stein added 10 points and nine rebounds. The Kings were actually down by 17 about halfway through the third quarter before crawling all the way back to tie things up just before the final buzzer. WCS scored the putback off a missed Fox layup to finally tie the game up for the first time in what felt like forever. If Bledsoe hadn’t locked down Fox with 11 seconds left on the clock, the Kings might have completed the whole damn comeback and won the game.

Even still, the way the Kings have been able to fight back in games against far superior opponents in encouraging. It doesn’t matter how young or inexperienced they play, they know how to keep themselves in games without letting their emotions get the best out of them. You don’t find that a lot in young teams. And for them to make huge comebacks against teams such as the Bucks, Warriors, and Nuggets is impressive, even if they’ve resulted in losses.

[27-36] Pelicans – 119 @ [30-31] Lakers – 125

If the Lakers lost this game, they might as well of begun preparation for the offseason. This was as big of a must-win game as it gets. Which, coming against a Pelicans team in the most awkward position ever, is never a good thing. But the Lakers pulled this one out thanks to LeBron James doing insane LeBron James things and Rajon Rondo going for 11 points, seven rebounds, and 16 (SIXTEEN!) assists.

Anthony Davis played only 20 minutes for the Pellies as he remains on a playing time restriction, but still managed to contribute 20 points and eight rebounds on 10-14 shooting. As Davis sat throughout the game and missed the entire fourth quarter, it was up to fellow former Cats Julius Randle and Darius Miller to pick up the slack. And they did just that. Randle went off for 35 points on 11-22 shooting in addition to his six rebounds and three assists while Miller made three triples for 11 points, three rebounds, and three assists. The loss doesn’t mean anything for the Pelicans, in reality. They probably just wish they could skip the last 20 games of the season, but at least Randle and Miller are still getting plenty of playing time and taking advantage of it.

Other notes

The Los Angeles Clippers fell to the Utah Jazz as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander posted 11 points on 6-8 shooting, moving his Clippers squad down into a tie with the San Antonio Spurs for the eighth and final spot in the Western Conference playoffs.

Bam Adebayo added 11 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists for the Miami Heat, who beat the Golden State Warriors off this ridiculous-ass Dwyane Wade game-winner.